Some of us have been mulling over how little the Yankees have been doing since their big Gerrit Cole signing—something that might seem like the ultimate in Yankee fandom, "What have you done for me lately?" thinking.
But really, history shows us that it's the little things you do as well as the big ones, that bring pennants.
So I take you back now to the late fall of 1995. The new Yankees dynasty is in serious danger of being stillborn, following a traumatic playoff loss in Seattle. Mad George has already dismissed Manager Buck Showalter, demoted Gene Michael, and brought in Bob Watson as his 579th general manager.
But do Watson and Stick let this situation get them down? No, they do not. In just six weeks, they make the deals—the little deals, the finishing touches—that make the next Yankees dynasty possible.
How did it go down? Like so:
November 20th, 1995—Yanks trade Triple-A closer Mike DeJean, a 24th-round draft pick in 1992, to the Colorado Rockies for catcher Joe Girardi. In his ten-year, journeyman career in the majors, DeJean will go 30-33, 4.30, with 52 saves.
December 5, 1995—Yanks re-sign Wade Boggs at the last minute, for 2 years, $4.05 million.
December 7, 1995—A day that will live in infamy—for Seattle. This is the blockbuster: Yanks trade starter Sterling Hitchcock and highly touted third-base prospect Russ Davis to the Mariners, for Tino Martinez, Jeff Nelson, and reliever Jim Mecir. Davis finishes an 8-year MLB career with 84 homers and a .257 batting average, while Hitchcock is 52-52 outside of NY.
December 11, 1995—Yanks sign Mariano Duncan to play second, for two years at $1.715 million. Duncan in 1996 has his greatest offensive year in 12 major-league seasons, batting .340/.352/.500/.852.
December 21, 1995—Yanks re-sign David Cone at the last minute, for 5 years, $39.5 million.
December 28th, 1995—Yanks acquire future Hall-of-Famer Tim Raines from the White Sox, for a player to be named later. Raines will be an invaluable back-up for the next three seasons. The player to be named later is Blaise Kozeniewski, a 16th-round draft pick as a third baseman in 1992, who switched to relief pitching, and had a good year that summer in Tampa. He never plays organized ball again.
Okay, sure: Mad George also made Watson and Stick sign Kenny Rogers as a free agent ("I got a hunch about this guy!").
But they will sign up Doc Gooden and Darryl over the months ahead, and make a terrific trade for Cecil Fielder and Graeme Lloyd, showing how so often it is the little deals that matter most.
Oh, and one other thing?
When Clyde King, one of George's "baseball people" tells George that Jeter is not ready and that the team should give in and trade Mariano Rivera to Seattle so they can acquire Felix Fermin, Michael manages to talk George out of it.
So often, too, it's the trades you DON'T make that save you.
Brian is no Gene Michael.
ReplyDeleteA blind man could have seen that Gerrit Cole was the person to sign. Good on Brian and Hal for picking him up.
We have already lost Romine and Didi. Let's see what other critical components from last year we can ditch in order to sign a new Cashman Special.
Absolutely correct in that the small trades count as much as the big ones.
So far, we signed Cole, resigned Gardy, let Didi and Romine and Betances and Bird and Parrot Guy walk, got Perez for Chance Adams, got international money for Nestor, lost a kid named Garcia via Rule 5, cut Ells, and hired a new pitching coach.
ReplyDeleteThere's a guy named Martin Maldonado who was Cole's "personal" catcher last year, but we haven't heard anything about getting him to replace Romine (Higgy is not a replacement for Romine, imo, especially with Ice Cream's injury history).
We still have a few months, but I wonder how all of that and whatever's coming is going to build a champion. Especially when you remember that it wasn't pitching that lost us the series against the Astros, it was batting .214 and sucking wind at the plate.
At least Kenny Rogers turned into Scott Brosius.
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ReplyDelete"So far, we signed Cole, resigned Gardy, let Didi and Romine and Betances and Bird and Parrot Guy walk, got Perez for Chance Adams, got international money for Nestor, lost a kid named Garcia via Rule 5, cut Ells, and hired a new pitching coach."
I'm good with all those moves except Gardy. (But I get it).
Bird and EE - Bye Bye Birdies.
Chance had his chance
Romaine - I liked him but why does everyone think Kyle won't be as good?
Nestor = lug nut
Garcia could come back.
Dellin. I don't know, but the multiple injuries one after another (especially the one coming off the mound one after a strike out) is enough to give me pause.
So adding Cole,firing Larry, and cutting dead wood is really good so far.
A+++
Doug K.
I agree, Doug K., except about Romine, who's stats are just far ahead of Higgy's. The Yanks should've dealt with this last off-season and traded ICS for Realmuto when they had the chance, but if they weren't going to do that a good back-up should have been a priority. We simply have no idea how many games Sanchez will play this year.
ReplyDeleteOtherwise, no, I don't think those others will be a big loss.
I thought Toonces would've been worth the risk...but apparently, he may miss a large chunk of 2020, so WTF? And yes, cutting the dead wood and letting Rothschild go back to resume his other identity in England as Boris Johnson is an improvement in itself.
Very good research, Horace.
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